Lim "BoxeR" Yo Hwan, one of the most famous players in e-sports history, might not make his return to Starcraft II until the release of Heart of the Swarm. BoxeR has been sidelined with a shoulder injury since May 1, forcing him to forfeit his GSL games and drop out of competition temporarily.

BoxeR picture taken by Siwoo Lee, courtesy GameChosun.co.kr.

In a new interview conducted by gamechosun.co.kr's Siwoo Lee, SlayerS founder and captain BoxeR discusses his current state and when we might see The Terran Emperor--so named for his innovative and dominating play as the human faction--return to action. "This is the longest break that I've had since my debut as a Starcraft player; it's been nice," said BoxeR, who has been competing professionally since 2000. "I might return at Heart of Swarm's release, or possibly sooner than that."

SlayerS coach Hong "Cella" Seung Pyo feels the Heart of the Swarm launch time frame might be the more appropriate one for a return. "Lately, he doesn't even play the game at all. I think that he will probably return with Heart of the Swarm." BoxeR has been undergoing treatment for his shoulder, but has not had surgery.

Blizzard has not committed to a 2012 launch for Heart of the Swarm, so BoxeR might be sidelined until sometime next year. With such a long break, he was asked if he was worried about losing his game sense and general skill level.

"The release of Heart of the Swarm would make the game completely new again, having everyone start from the beginning. Plus, having a convenient interface in Starcraft II, I am not so worried about it," BoxeR said. "Unlike Starcraft 1, which had almost no updated patches at all, Starcraft II is divided into three games and multiple patches, which gives less pressure."

The longtime Terran player may not be as satisfied with the game itself, which has been seen by some as helping out Protoss and Zerg more than the race that he has used throughout his entire Starcraft 1 and Starcraft II career. That may force BoxeR into a position he has never been in before: a different race.

"It seems like things are continuously getting worse for Terran. I might switch to either Protoss or Zerg," BoxeR said. When asked if he was serious in switching races, he said, "Actually I am half joking and half serious, but there is no law requiring me to play only Terran forever. I think that being able to embrace other races easily is one of the pros of Starcraft II."

No matter when BoxeR returns, his fans worldwide will be waiting for him. He'll have his chance with OnGameNet StarLeague switching to Starcraft II for the first time, giving him the opportunity to win the Golden Mouse, which is awarded to any player who has won three OSL championships. Only four players in history have ever won the Golden Mouse: Lee "NaDa" Yoon Yeol, Park "July" Sung Joon, Lee "Jaedong" Jae Dong, and Lee "Flash" Young Ho. BoxeR's last title win came over a decade ago in 2001.

"Of course, I'd love to stand on the stage I've always dreamed of," said BoxeR. "When you're on a winning streak, winning isn't inspiring anymore, but when you lose continuously, winning once gives you all the excitement you need."

I dunno what the hell you imbeciles are talking about. Watching the best players in the world duke it out in SC2 with excellent commentary delivered by professional-level announcers (Husky is my personal favorite, but Day9, Ahnaris (not sure if that;s how it's spelled) and HD are pretty great too) is incredibly entertaining to watch.

So, by all means, keep brushing it off and displaying your ignorance. We'll just keep enjoying great content.Oh, and let's not forget, we'll all gamers here, and based on how stigmatized our hobby has been throughout the years, no-one on this forum has any right to throw stones.

Just to outline the cause of his shoulder injury, if you go on to youtube and search "BoxeR's Wings" the first result will be a documentry on Boxer's switch over to sc2. If you skip to about 36 minutes in it shows BoxeR having his shoulder checked out by a doctor. To me it seems to be that it is gaming that has caused the injury.

I know I may be opening myself to ridicule by posting about a documentry about esports but I would recomend anyone who has not seen this to watch it all of the way through just to get an idea of how much time and effort people put into this profession.

I mean if "professional" video-gaming is such a big thing in Korea then put it on some Korean site. When I click on the PC section I expect to see news about PC games not something absurd about some kid who actually gets paid to play them.

Stop calling it "esports" and call it what it is, competitive gaming. The awkwardness of the word "esports" makes me cringe, and the fact that people unfamiliar with competitive gaming see this term being used and laugh condescendingly shows how ridiculous the word "esports" is.

Wow, I had no idea he was even injured. I'm glad mainstream media sites are starting to pick up competitive gaming news. Thanks Gamespot staff and Slasher, this and your insightful articles like "The Limitations on Genres" keep me coming back to your site day in and day out.

@duron2 The current Boxer is more of a brilliant strategist than a brilliant player. I don't know how much of management he does at the Slayers house, but that could definitely cut into his practice time. Also remember that MMA is his student.

@cirugo Its BIGGEST in Korea, but also becoming big in many other places. Its about a PC game, and a celebrity who plays it. Clearly a lot of people here enjoy the article, so if you don't, just don't read it. Pretty simple really.

@onlypc That's interesting, instead of being welcoming to a community and trying to spread your viewpoints in a positive manner, you instead decide to insult their intelligence.

I am a 17 year old console gamer. I am a big fan of Halo, especially in the competitive scene, however I also love Starcraft even though I don't play it, I merely spectate tournaments. If I was not a fan of either Halo or Starcraft, why would I want to join a community that thinks I'm ignorant? You're not helping to grow e-sports with your comment, instead you are detering people who might have an interest and may not understand fully yet.

@avsfan7733 I don't understand why people have such a problem with the term "esports". Its not like you will enjoy you favorite athletic sport less now that it shares a common category with video games.A competitive games and an esports are not necessarily the same. Playing a competitive game is something that you can do casually. Competing in an esport is something that you train for 12 hours a day for. Its something you can really dedicate your life towards.Also, I would argue that sports do not imply strict athleticism. Have you ever played a game of starcraft? When I play, I get mentally exhausted after only 3 or 4 games. These pros play 20-40 games a day, at 10 times the speed that I play. I have absolutely no problem calling an activity that requires that kind of ridiculous mental strength and discipline a sport :D

@avsfan7733 It is, the only issue is that it isn't very marketable ;) esports is and it is easier to understand. Competitive gaming is just boring(the word not the activity and doesn't start conversation(whether good or bad) like esports does.

@MachShot if you are in diamond league, you are roughly within top 20% all active players, so its harsh to say you are garbage since you are better then atleast 80% of people (top diamond is better then ~95% of players). Master league is top 2% of all active players. Yes they are all bad comparing to pros, but not garbage..

@godofwarbfcodfa Well, footy is one of the most popular sports in the world, so that's not really a fair comparison. Besides, since when is the amount of viewership synonymous with quality or watchability? UFC only does ~200-250 thousand for most of its PPVs, but that doesn't mean it's a bad sport or somehow not worth paying attention to.

@ArcherRO Dude your opinion isn't a fact, people on the intenet need to get this. People who don't follow it find it ridiculous, I find that millions of people watching 22 men in shorts kicking a ball fucking ridiculous but I don't go around on soccer websites or news saying how ridiculous it is, if I find it bad or annoying I just don't care about it,; if so much people actually comment it's that they care a little bit be it jealousy or whatever.

@neurosx That's also ridiculous.Elevating these sports stars and singers at the rank of demigods is just absurd.You know there was a boxer who won a golden medal on olympics with a broken hand?Now if he p[layed and won a tournament that would be news worthy and I would admire him.

@onlypc While I completely agree that the negativity here is idiotic, especially being a gaming site, I do agree with Silos911. The haters here are ignorant trolls and bullies, so "fighting fire with fire" will only lessen the image of those who support esports.